Thursday, November 4, 1999
KINGS MOUNTAIN
Herald
Vol. 111 No. 44
Since 1889
Weapon
found
at KMHS |
A pellet gun was taken from
a student’s car Tuesday after-
noon in the parking lot at Kings
Mountain High School.
According to Supt. Bob
McRae, the incident is still un-
der investigation but it doesn’t
appear the students intended to:
use the gun to cause any harm. :
But from a “legally defined
perspective,” McRae said the
pellet gun is still considered a
weapon and comes under
school policy for possible sus-
pension.
Principal Phil Weathers is
evaluating the circumstances
and will make a recommenda-
tion to the Board of Education.
The students could be suspend- :
ed from 10 days to the remain-
der of the school year.
KM man faces
multiple charges
in store incident :
BY ALAN HODGE
Staff Writer
A Kings Mountain man who : :
allegedly went on a rampage in : i
Falls Superette store last
Thursday has been charged
with several crimes in connec-
tion with the attempted rob-
bery. Still in Cleveland
Memorial Hospital witha bul- { i
let wound in the stomach here- i |
ceived from store owner Bill id
Cashion, 18-year-old David
Allen Glover has been charged
with assault and injury, simple
assault, attempted common law : i
robbery, and attempted second
degree murder.
The action began when
Glover allegedly entered the
store at the corner of Lake
Montonia Drive and N.C. 161,
and attacked former Cleveland
County Commissioner Joyce
Cashion. Attempting to aid his : :
wife, Bill Cashion came out
from behind the deli counter
and joined the fray. After fight- :
Murphrey elected KM Mayor,
ing with Glover, Bill Cashion
broke free and grabbed a .38
caliber piston. Seconds later,
Glover took a bullet to the
stomach and ran out the door.
“He came in with a net over
his head and screaming he was : :
going to take everything and
kill us,” Joyce Cashion said.
“He was acting real crazy.”
After being shot, Glover
made his way to 124 Hillway
Drive, where he was found by
officers. 3
“We had seen him in the store
before,” Cashion said. “He had
been living around here for a
couple of months.”
Glover has been arrested be-
fore on charges ranging from
breaking and entering in 1997,
to possession of marijuana and
resisting arrest.
“My husband and I are al-
right, except for a few bumps,”
Cashion said as she nursed a
very badly bruised arm. “You
like to think that things like this :
don’t happen, but they do.
We're lucky it wasn’t any
worse.”
Veterans Day service
set at Mountain Rest
The city will sponsor a :
Veterans Day service November ;
11 at 11 a.m. at Mountain Rest
Cemetery. 3
Mayor Scott Neisler will lead :
the service, assisted by mem-
bers of the American Legion
and VFW.
The public is invited.
eregulation could be costly
Buy back
would add
$2-$3 to bill
By GARY STEWART
Editor of The Herald
A proposal by Duke Power
and Carolina Power & Light to
buy back power plant shares
they sold to 51 cities more than
two decades ago and purchase
the cities’ electricity distribution
systems could cost Kings
Mountain electrical customers
over $3 million over the next 17
years.
The debt of those 51 cities - of
which Kings Mountain is not a
part - has ballooned to over $6
billion.
The cities bought into “gener-
ation” of power when the
Catawba Nuclear Plant was
constructed. Over the years a
myriad of situations, including
a lack of expected growth, con-
struction costs, and the Three
Mile Island catastrophe, con-
tributed to the debt. Since bond
money was used to build the fa-
cilities, the cities had to look to
the state to resolve the problem.
Selling the assets of the
Municipal Power Agencies
would come to about $3 billion,
leaving another $3 billion to be
passed along to customers over
a 17-year period. Based on esti-
mates, the fee would range
from $2 to $3 on a typical resi-
dential bill and a 4% to 5% for
industrial customers.
While forcing rate payers to
help pay off the debt would be
unpopular, CP&L spokesman
Keith Poston said “it’s in-
evitable that there will have to
be some sharing of this debt.”
. Duke and CP&L pointed out
that electrical customers in the
51-city MPA have higher rates
than other cities in North
Carolina and propose that those
customers’ rates be frozen for a
three-year period. After that
« time, their rates would drop to
the level of other Duke and
CP&L customers in North
Carolina.
According to Kings Mountain
City Manager Jimmy Maney,
the proposal would not affect
Kings Mountain customers as
far as the sale of the shares, but
the $2 to $3 monthly transition
the state and the city would
have no choice but to pass
along the fee.
“The position of the non-
power agency cities, along with
their customers, is why should
we be just as responsible for the
debt when we didn’t have any-
thing to do with this?” said
Maney.
Maney said Kings Mountain
has about 5,000 electric cus-
tomers. Based on a $3 monthly
increase over a 17-year period,
Maney said Kings Mountain
customers would pay about
See Costly, 3A
! | THE HERALD
New
Kings
Mountain
Mayor
Rick Murphrey
gets a hug
from wife
Sandra
after win
in Tuesday
election
GARY STEWART/
By ELIZABETH STEWART
Ward 5 city councilman Rick Murphrey beat four
other challengers Tuesday as Kings Mountain voters
elected him mayor, ousted incumbents Phil Hager and
Jerry Mullinax, reelected three and seated four new
councilmen.
The new faces on the seven member city council are
Jim Guyton, Ward 2, who defeated Mullinax 171-110;
Rev. Howard Shipp, Ward 1, who defeated Hager; Carl
DeVane, Ward 5; and former at-large councilman Dean
Spears, unopposed in Ward 4.
Incumbent Clavon Kelly was unopposed in Ward 3,
and incumbents Bob Hayes and Gene White were elect-
ed to at-large seats with Hayes the top votegetter lead-
ing a field of seven candidates.
“I've worked hard,” said an elated Murphrey, who
said he felt very humble and thankful for the support
and vote of confidence.
+ “As we move forward we will work even harder to
make Kings Mountain an even better place to live,” said
Murphrey who said he is excited about the potential to
“sell” Kings Mountain as a growing community.
Former mayor Kyle Smith, who ran second with 629
votes to Murphrey’s 769, and mayor protem Norma
Bridges, who placed third with 455 votes, said they
were disappointed with Tuesday’s voter turnout.
Mrs. Bridges, the only woman on the council, ac-
knowledged the support of citizens during her long
tenure on the board.
“At 72 I think it’s time for me to retire,” said Smith.
Placing fourth and fifth were Pee Wee Hamrick and Ted
Chandler.
While congratulating Guyton, Mullinax said he cred-
ited his loss to several negative votes he cast on major
issues. “Jim Guyton is hard to beat, he was fair and
treated me right,” said Mullinax.
The Ward 2 race was a replay of an unusual election
in 1998. Mullinax defeated challenger Guyton by one
See Election, 3A
ELECTION ‘99
Putnam, Miller elected
to Board of Education
Stella Neisler Putnam swept all precincts as the top
vote-getter in Tuesday’s Kings Mountain Board of
Education race, leading two challengers as voters oust-
ed veteran board member B. S. Peeler and reelected in-
cumbent Shearra Miller.
By their vote on Tuesday District School patrons at
the polls gave the majority on the school board to wom-
en. Other members of the board are Ronnie Hawkins,
chairman; Dr. Larry Allen and Melony Bolin.
“I am very humbled by the overwhelming support I
received at the polls Tuesday,” said an excited Putnam,
who sees her new position as “a whole different per-
spective.”
A political newcomer, Putnam received 1,926 votes.
Incumbent Shearra Miller kept her seat with 1,293 votes.
Peeler finished third with 1,207 votes in the race for two
inside city seats on the board.
The school board race was comparatively low-key,
with each candidate citing the need to find classroom
space for Kings Mountains growing school population.
Putnam has been a frequent participant at school
board meetings over the years and has been active in
school events. She and her husband, Gerald, have a
seventh grader Russ who is a student at the Middle
School. Their daughter, Lee, graduated last year from
Kings Mountain High School and is a student at UNC
in Charlotte.
“This is something I have always wanted to do and I
am so happy for the opportunity,” said Putnam.
Putnam has served on the Character Education Task
Force and the Task Force on Student Behavior and has
been a leader in the effort to build a children’s wing at
Mauney Memorial Library.
She campaigned to “focus on our children, support
our teachers and staff and listen to our community.”
charge would be mandated by
Senior Center
to be named
for Patrick
BY ALAN HODGE
Staff Writer
The new $1.2 million
Kings Mountain Senior
Center will the named
the “H. Lawrence
Patrick Senior Life &
Conference Center,” it
was announced Friday
at a meeting of the
Senior Center fund-rais:
ing committee. The
meeting at Mauney
Memorial Library also
saw Mary Helen
Patrick, become the
campaign's largest pri- PATRICK
vate contributor when she presented Senior
Center Director Monty Thornburg with a check
for $150,000.
“This is a wonderful gift,” Thornburg said of
Patrick’s contribution. “It happened so quickly.
We appreciate this contribution that will benefit
the whole community.”
The contribution was made in honor of the
late H. Lawrence Patrick. CEO and founder of
Patrick Yarn Mills, Inc., an international textile
manufacturing firm headquartered in Kings
Mountain. Patrick was a Marine Corps officer in
WWII and the Korean War. He was a graduate
of Davidson College with a bachelor of science
degree in physics and a master’s degree in in-
dustrial engineering from Georgia Tech
University. Patrick passed away in 1997 at the
age of 75.
“We have watched the present Senior Center
and the good work that goes on there,” Mary
Helen Patrick said. “We wanted to help the new
facility with a contribution in memory of my
husband.”
In addition to the Patrick gift, Cleveland
County Commissioners voted unanimously
Tuesday night to give the new Senior Center
$150,000.
“See Patrick, 3A
Bill Favell elected
new Grover mayor
GROVER - A light
turnout of voters Tuesday
elected a new mayor and
three council members.
Councilman Bill Favell
received 88 votes to Robbie
Side’s 58 to win election as
Grover mayor. Bill Willis
announced last week he
was withdrawing from the
race. Willis received four
votes.
Incumbent councilman
Jack Herndon easily won
reelection and was the top votegetter with 114
i votes. Robert Hunt, also running for a full term
council seat, garnered 109 votes.
Current mayor Max Rollins, who received 74
votes, and Chuck Potts, who received 66 votes,
“were elected to fill unexpired terms which end
December 1, 2001.
In Waco, Horace Lutz was elected mayor with
57 votes. Hill Carpenter placed second with 30
votes. Larry Klemm, with 55 votes, and Charles
Ross, with 54 votes, were elected aldermen.
Alesia W. Sauls placed third in this race with 32
votes.
FAVELL
6E
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Celebrating 125 Years
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